Read is a great example of how English spelling and pronunciation do not always match in a simple way. The word keeps the same spelling in both the present and the past, but the sound changes with the tense.
In the present tense, read is pronounced like reed. In the past tense, read is pronounced like red.
- Present: I read every night before bed.
- Past: I read that book last week.
This happens because English often preserves older spellings even after pronunciation shifts over time. As a result, some words become easy to recognize on the page but less predictable when spoken aloud.
Context usually makes the meaning clear. If you see every night, you expect the present tense sound, reed. If you see last week, you expect the past tense sound, red.
This kind of word can be tricky for learners, but it also shows how tense works in real sentences. The spelling stays fixed, while the sentence tells you which pronunciation to use.